PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An Australian lawmaker traveled nearly 10,000 miles to our neck of the woods to discuss the prevalence of PFAS.
Cate Faehrmann represents the Parliament of New South Wales. She was given a tour of the Plainfield Charter Township Water Plant to learn more about the forever chemicals.
PFAS was discovered in Sydney's drinking water, prompting Faehrmann to demand more action from her country’s government. She also chairs a committee devoted to investigating PFAS contamination.
PFAS is a major problem for residents living in the Rockford and Plainfield Township areas, with contamination traced back to shoemaker Wolverine Worldwide.
"When you do a quick search online for PFAS and action and the U.S., you quickly come up with Grand Rapids, with the PFAs Action Network here in Michigan," says Faehrmann.
The main takeaway, Faehrmann says, is that Plainfield Township’s filtering process is much cheaper than elsewhere.
“The cost effectiveness is one thing, and we garnered a lot of interest for the way we did it. Instead of a pressurized tank system that cost many millions of dollars, we do it for a couple million dollars, and it's been never done in this way, using our existing filters to take it out instead of adding some outside filters. So it was very cost effective,” says Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Don Petrovich.
“I'm going to go back to New South Wales, and when that government says to me, ‘It can't be done; it's too expensive.’ And I say, ‘Yes, it can, because I saw it in Grand Rapids,’” says Faehrmann.
Faehrmann tells us she plans to bring her newfound knowledge of PFAS and water filtration back to Australia.
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